


Physical Fitness with Commander Spock

by Calicy



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 08:28:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13923261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calicy/pseuds/Calicy
Summary: Uhura can’t stand the thought of quitting but she is starting to see a tunnel with a bright light at the end. The choice might soon be out of her hands.In which Uhura tries to impress a certain (very attractive) Vulcan instructor at the gym.





	Physical Fitness with Commander Spock

Nineteen minutes into a particularly aggressive session of training, Nyota is having visions of her own imminent demise and mentally writing a letter for Starfleet administration. 

It has been decades since the original standards were put into place. Surely there are better ways to test muscular strength other than sit ups. Every repetition of the exercise made her more angry. They were murder on your back. They only worked a small portion of your abdominal muscle group. They sucked. 

And, as she became acutely aware thanks to the mirror in front of which she was practicing, she looked very stupid doing them. Her face flushed and contorted in pain. Her fists clung to her shirt for dear life. Her upper body quivered at the effort. 

Nothing she did seemed to make her better at them. She did over a hundred a day and yet came no closer to the minimum standard needed to pass the Starfleet physical fitness test. 

She was hauling herself up, cursing and shuddering at the act, still ten reps short of the standard with only five seconds of time left when she saw quite a sight. 

Vulcans were not common at the Academy. And this one happened to be half naked. And beautiful. So it was okay to stare a little. 

Nyota tears her eyes away long enough to question one of the nearby cadets who informs her, “That’s Commander Spock. He teaches a class on Suus Mahna every morning.”

Vulcan martial arts. Perhaps that would challenge her body in the manner necessary to push her past her physical plateau. Nyota watches the Commander turn his practice instruments in his hands, his muscles flexing at the effort. 

There are only four other cadets in the class, all fit, intense-looking security track cadets. Nyota brushes off the brief concern which fills her. The low census is most likely due to the 0545 start time, she thinks. 

Commander Spock nods at Uhura in greeting. Nyota nods back, which allows her to discretely run her eyes across his form. 

Her days have been so packed with studying for so many months. She can’t help herself. It’s been a very long time. Fortunately, he doesn’t even seem to notice her attention. 

“We will be doing physical conditioning today,” Commander Spock says as he leads them through basic stretches, “I found your endurance and muscular fitness lacking in our previous sparring session.”

“Conditioning?” one of the other cadets asks, his tone noticeably wavering. 

“Again?” another adds, turning to glance at the exit. 

“Yes. I believe that was the message I was attempting to convey.”

“Ah,” says the second cadet. She glances at her classmates out of the corner of her eye. When Spock isn’t looking, one of the cadets rushes out of the room. 

Nyota is not deterred. If anything, she is intrigued. 

They begin doing sets of dynamic movements. Spock has a variety of different names for the exercises which Nyota doesn’t recognize. What he describes as ‘dynamic quadricep flexion’ are more commonly known as butt kicks with high knees added on. ‘Full body extensions’ are just jumping jacks. They do so many sets, Nyota loses count. It’s not easy but it is very doable.

One of her classmates gives her a grim look when Nyota expresses the thought, “That’s just part of the warm up. He hasn’t gotten to the hard part.”

Above their heads, heavy metal music begins to play. Spock yells so that he can inform them, “I just reviewed research which indicates humans perform better when stimulated with music heavily characterized by highly amplified distortion, emphatic beats, and overall loudness. Perhaps this soundtrack will inspire some effort on your parts, cadets.”

Out of nowhere, pairs of weights appear for each of the cadets. Spock shows them three separate exercises, which each focus on different muscle groups. The Commander instructs them to complete the exercises no less than fifty times each. Then, with barely a minute of rest, Spock teaches them another three distinct exercises, which they also do so many time, Nyota begins to see stars 

Then they are given a five minute water break. 

“Is there more?” Nyota asks. 

“Oh yeah,” one of the cadets says. 

“I’m just going to the locker room for a second,” another cadets says. He does not return.

Her heart is roaring in her ears and Nyota aches in ways she didn’t think she could hurt but something inside of her pushes her to go back. It’s the same competitive streak which got her into the Academy in the first place. 

She has seen this scene a thousand times before. The other students at Starfleet refusing to push themselves. Challenges make one stronger. This is no different from an advanced class or a difficult assignment. She will show everyone what she can do.

Commander Spock spares her a long glance when she returns, “It is my understanding that this is your first time in attendance, cadet.”

“You’re correct,” Uhura replies. His eyes are intent on her and she feels a familiar warmth under his gaze.

He nods. He watches her for a moment longer and she sees a subtle shift in his expression. 

Now she has to stay. 

They continue. This time, they do cardio in between strength training exercises. Crunches and then laps around the room. Planks and then burpees. Squats and then more jumping jacks. Lunges and then mountain climbers. Sit ups and then high knees. Push ups and then butt kicks. 

Uhura can’t stand the thought of quitting but she is starting to see a tunnel with a bright light at the end. The choice might soon be out of her hands.

“I don’t think I can take much more of this,” one of the few remaining cadets chokes out between pants, “It’s been hours!”

“It’s only been forty five minutes,” their classmate responds hoarsely. 

“How much longer?” Uhura says, so out of breath she can barely speak. 

“Five minutes. Then we do cool down activities,” another cadet replies. She takes a deep breath before adding, “But last of all, we do the finisher,”

“What is the finisher?” Uhura says. 

Before anyone can respond, Spock is calling them back. The other cadets trudge to their spots, with all the enthusiasm one might seen in someone going to their own execution. The time to leave is at hand. Uhura even finds herself looking at the door. Suddenly, sits up alone in a corner don’t sound so bad. 

The hair on the back of her neck rises. She turns to find Spock looking at her. He tilts his head, a silent but obvious challenge. 

Uhura takes her place amongst her peers. The song playing is a particularly angry one with a lot of shouting. Her pulse quickens in accordance with the beat.She can do this. She will do this. 

The finisher is mercifully straightforward. Twenty push ups, twenty sit ups, ten pull ups, five laps around the room, and then fifty burpees. 

Ordinarily, such a sequence would be nothing. After what they have done, it seems nearly impossible.

Spock raises an eyebrow at her and she raises one back at him before beginning the sequence. Just before she drops to the floor, she sees the corner of his lip quirks in response. 

Uhura tries to keep up with the others but this quickly becomes impossible. ‘Strange,’ she thinks as she struggles to force her body through each different physical challenge, ‘I came in here to not look terrible doing exercise.’

After the push ups and sit ups, Uhura scrambles to her feet. She can barely hurl herself up onto the pull up bar. The first three reps are awful. She begins to shake with the next two. It seems impossible that she could do five more but no part of her can bring herself to let go. 

Spock gives instruction to each of the cadets from the side of the classroom. He comes to stand next to Uhura by the pull up bar. He does not speak, not to encourage, correct, or demand more effort. He only watches. 

Uhura meets his gaze. She digs deep into her own mental reserve and manages five incredibly sloppy pulls ups and drops down. Spock nods. Uhura tries not to grin and then hurries to the next sequence. 

She pushes herself too hard on the laps. Her muscles are tense and unyielding but she tosses herself onto the floor and then leaps up. Again. Then again. And over and over and over. 

‘Just a little more and I’m done,’ Uhura thinks. 

The thought isn’t all that comforting. 

But then it’s finally over. 

She can hear Spock directing them through a calm sequence of stretches but the moment she reaches to touch her toes, everything goes dark.

She awakens soon after. Uhura is sprawled across the floor, the pulse in her head the only sign she is still alive. Spock is by her side. She can see the other cadets standing behind him. 

“Focus on your attention on maintaining a steady breathing pattern,” Spock says, “You seem to be suffering from the effects of hypoxemia. When you feel able, please partake in water. There is a container by your left hand.”

Uhura obeys. Her breathing and heartbeat becomes slower. She manages to drink a few sips of water. 

“Exceptional effort, cadet,” Spock says. Then he stands and leaves the classroom. 

Another cadet helps her to her feet. He jokes, “So we’ll see you next week, right?”

“Absolutely,” Uhura says. There is a pleasant rush of going through her and she doesn’t think it’s just happy hormones.

The cadet stares at her for several seconds, “Seriously?”

“Yes,” Uhura says. The PT test will be nothing for her after a few sessions like that. 

And Spock will be there, she thinks smiling. 

“If you think that was bad,” the cadets adds, “You should come on the days we actually do Suus Mahna exercises.”


End file.
